Bagatelle-board



(No Model.)

M. REDGRAVE. BAGATELLE BOARD.

. No. 603,738. I Patented May 10,1898.

UNITED STAT-Es PATENT OFFICE."

MONTAGUE REDGRAVE, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

BAGATELLE-B OARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,738, dated May 10, 1898.

Application filed November 12, 1897. Serial No. 668,270. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MONTAGUE REDGRAVE, a citizen of the United States, residing in Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Parlor Bagatelle- Boards, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of the same.

In my Letters Patent No. 115,357, granted May 30, 1871, the ball is driven up the alley by a spring-impelled piston, the knob of which extends through the nearer end of the board in order that it may be pulled out by one hand of the player while his other hand steadies the board. The knob thus arranged is in some danger of being caught by passing garments, may easily be broken by children through carelessness or in their play, and will impede packing for storage or transportation.

The object of this invention is to enable the player to operate the propelling device with the same hand that holds the. board and to do away with the other objections above stated.

To this end my invention consists, chiefly,

in the combination of a bagatelle-board having a longitudinally-slotted plate secured over the nearer partof the alley with a springimpelled piston operating Wholly in the said alley and provided with a raised knob, the stem of which is guided in the said slot, the ends of the latter limiting its movement, so that the knob will always be in convenient position for operation by pressure of the players thumb, while the fingers of the same hand hold the proximate corner of the board.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a bagatelleboard embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a detail view of the propelling device and a part of the proximate alley and slotted plate. Fig. 3 represents a cross-section on the line a; 0'0 of Fig. 2.

A designates the body of a bagatelle-board, providedwith pins a, cups 0., and bells a arranged in any convenient way. It has also a raised rim A along its edges and a curved buffer-plate A at the upper end. A straight wall 1), parallel to the right side or edge of the board, forms the usual alley B,-which is covered at the lower right-hand corner of the by a plate 0.

board andfor some distance along its length In this platea longitudinal slot 0 is formed, beginning at some little distance from the corner and ending at a point not beyond convenient reach by the thumb of the same hand that holds and steadies the said corner of the board. 7

D designates a solid piston, preferably of wood, which is guided by the walls of the said alley and impelled up the latter by a spring E, arranged in the said alley and resting at its lower end against the rear or lower part of rim A, whichis everywhere continuous and imperforate. This piston is manipulated by means of a knob F, the stem f of which rises through the slot 0, the ends of which limit the longitudinal movement of the said piston in either direction. That part of the plate 0 is bent downward, forming an oblong depression 0 allowing the said knob to move backward and forward therein, the top of the said knob being flush with the surface of the remainder of the plate. This construction leaves absolutely no part projecting beyond or above the square rim A, so that a consignment of these boards maybe packed on each other and against the sides and ends of each other with as little impediment or inconvenience as a mass of bricks. 1 The knob cannot possibly be caught by any garment and is guarded by its position against fracture or any injury. A single band suffices to hold the board and play the game, which is thus made practicable to one-armed persons, while those who are not maimed have the use of the other hand for other purposes.

I am aware that spring-locks have often been'made with a knob extending from the bolt above a slotted plate which guides and limits the movement of the stem of the said knob, and that such a plate has sometimes been depressed in the neighborhood of the slot and knob. These devices have nothing to do with bagatelles, are not means of impulsion, and form no part of any kind of a board or other article especially designed for packing squarely and evenly together. I do not claim any such lock nor any article, part, or feature whatever which does not belong to a bagatelle-board and is not adapted to further the object of keeping all the elements and attachments of the same within the borsaid alley at the lower right-hand corner of the board and provided with a depressed part,

0 having a longitudinal slot, 0, a plunger, D, arranged in the said alley under the said plate and a spring behind the said plunger, the said plunger being provided with a knob which slides in the said depressed part of the plate, the top of the said knob being flush with the higher part of the plate and practically with the rim, that there may be no part appreciably above or in any Way outside of the said rim to interfere with packing the boards together, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MONTAGUE REDGRAVE.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK W. BIETZ, WILLIAM C. WALLACE. 

